


The Wrong Side

by ladyofpyke



Category: Hannibal (TV)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-06-26
Updated: 2013-06-26
Packaged: 2017-12-16 06:52:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 476
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/859150
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ladyofpyke/pseuds/ladyofpyke
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A short encounter between Will and Hannibal in the Baltimore State Hospital for the Criminally Insane.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Wrong Side

He felt like drowning. Water soaked through his clothes. It sent a tingling sensation through his body, where his skin touched the cold wet. There was light in the distance, behind his shut eyes.

A cold, sterile light.

“Good morning, Will.” Hannibal’s cold, sterile voice. His alluring accent. “Wake up, Will.”

Will shot upright in bed, grabbing the wet sheets. Digging his fingers into the damp cloth, to find a hold, a grip to reality. He stared vacantly into space, breathing heavily. His gaze fixed on the dull grey wall of his cell. He blinked a few times, hoping the man in the corner of his eyes, the man on the wrong side of the bars, would vanish. Would just be another nightmare all to real.

But he didn’t.

He stood there, calm, calculating. “Will, there is no use in ignoring me. You have to face me, eventually.”

“I know, Dr Lecter, I have to face my fears. The monster from my nightmares. The wendigo.” He glanced over Hannibal. A sincere face, faking worry and concern and even grief all to well. “I see now. Clear. No clouds hiding your true self. And I know I will have to destroy you.” Will hated the pang of regret he felt. The little quiver in his voice, that undermine his determination.

“I know, Will. Only one of us can survive this.” Hannibal made a long pause, clasped his hands. Looking at Will with pain in his eyes. “I regret it came to this. I regret …” He looked away, pressed his hands against his lips for a moment, closed his eyes. “I regret, that I wasn’t able to protect Abigail. I sincerely do.” He was almost convincing. “You have to believe me, my friend.”

Will wanted to laugh, but he didn’t remember how. “We are no friends. Friends don’t do this to each other.”

“But we could have been, Will, we’re so much alike.” Hannibal’s voice stayed calm. No quiver here. “We could have been more than friends.”

A shiver ran down Will’s spine. He remembered that night, not so long ago. He had no recollection how he got to Hannibal’s office. He only remembered the warmth of his touch, the arms encircling his shaking body. Holding him, until shivers and sobs had subsided. He remembered the trust, unyielding trust. Trust in a lie, a masquerade.

He shook his head. “No, we couldn’t. We may be alike, but we’re so different in the things that matter.”

Hannibal’s eyes faked hurt, mortification.

“Please, don’t come again. I won’t talk to you, until both of us are on the side of the bars we belong. Until then, I don’t want to see you.”

Hannibal snorted and a slight smile crept on his lips. “I see, Will, so you want to spend the rest of your life with me by your side.”


End file.
